Dear Editor:
I can’t understand how commentators like Dr. Myron Kuropas can still support Donald Trump. In his January 19 column, he admits that in 2016 he found Mr. Trump to be a “narcissistic, vulgar oaf.” Perhaps Dr. Kuropas’s views have changed, but many of my fellow Americans find Trump to be even more vulgar and morally objectionable. Mr. Trump is a shameless admirer of Vladimir Putin. He openly invited Russia to interfere in our electoral system. Mr. Trump withheld aid from Ukraine, apparently to pressure the Zelenskyy government to dig up dirt and concoct scandals on Mr. Trump’s political opponent.
Instead of savoring our diaspora’s victorious lobbying campaign that led to stronger sanctions and military aid to Ukraine by veto-proof bipartisan majorities in Congress, too many Ukrainian Americans give Mr. Trump credit for the very sanctions and aid that he opposed and withheld.
Would Dr. Kuropas have us forget Mr. Trump’s disgraceful statements at the 2018 summit in Helsinki, where he claimed that Mr. Putin’s denials of Russian involvement in our elections were more believable than the overwhelming conclusions of our intelligence community? Russia has penetrated our electoral system, yet Mr. Trump and his allies are still trying to blame Ukraine for the Russian hack of Democratic e-mails.
Even Mr. Trump’s allies admit he is a “pathological” liar (to quote Ted Cruz). Fox pundit Tucker Carlson concedes that Mr. Trump has told thousands of lies since taking office.
Dr. Kuropas urges Republicans to “trumpet” Mr. Trump’s good news. But God help us if we ignore Mr. Trump’s moral depravity and his blatant contempt for the truth and the rule of law.
Chrystyna Balko Slywotzky
Cambridge, Mass.